Jay Larkin is...On the Writing Block!

Welcome everyone! Before we begin, who is Jay?

I always loved murder mysteries and as a teenager, I even contemplated methods of poisoning my relations - not from motives of malice or personal gain - but just to see if the hypothetical methods worked. Fortunately, I never went through with any of my plans.

I am inquisitive and given to mixing in, like my main character Jenny Brooks, but always with the best of motives.

Nowadays it's more satisfying to create my own mysteries - and solve them in ways I hope my readers don't see coming.

How much is based on real life versus made up?

My main character, Jenny Brooks, super-cleaner and super-sleuth, is based on myself. I’ve always been a nosey parker and I often make deductions based on the slimmest evidence. The mysteries Jenny and the other quirky characters encounter are mostly made up – inspired by a news story, book or film, but the most dramatic ones are the most likely to be true! However, unlike Jenny, I’m not on good terms with a gangster or a detective inspector of police.

Who is your favorite mystery sleuth?

The first and most important detective I came across was the inimitable Sherlock Holmes. I still find his logical deductions, based on acute observation, astounding and enjoy the variety of his cases. I also went to school near Baker Street, London where the famous sleuth lived, which made him seem all the more real to me.

I also admire Mma Ramotswe, founder of the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. She’s a strong, intelligent woman, successfully running her own business. The books include a collection of mysteries, involving a (mostly) lovable cast of characters, rarely involving a murder. All of mine in the Aunt Audrey’s Angels Series are the same, with each of the twelve chapters being a complete story.

What is your favorite food to eat?

I often change my mind about this. At the moment it’s cheese scones – with lashings of butter!

Do you prefer pen and paper, or computer for writing?

I always start with pen and paper, but then transfer this draft onto my computer, a scene at a time, using the dictate function.

What is Grime Doesn’t Pay about?

Fired from her boring office position, Jenny lands her dream job at Aunt Audrey’s Angels cleaning agency, where she pursues her twin passions of cleaning houses and solving mysteries.

Inquisitive, resourceful and persistent, the cleaner-turned-sleuth stumbles across mysteries wherever she works, including theft, extortion and fraud. Along the way, she enlists the help of a police detective, a private investigator and an attractive lawyer.

When Jenny herself is framed for a jewellery heist, she needs all her courage and tenacity to outsmart the criminals and reveal the truth.